IFRS joins forces with TNFD to improve nature-related financial disclosures

The IFRS Foundation has joined forces with the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) to create better guidelines for companies to report on how their activities affect nature.

The duo signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) this week in Frankfurt, signalling a commitment to build upon the TNFD recommendations in the ongoing work of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), to enable nature-related financial disclosures for use by capital markets.

Sue Lloyd, ISSB vice-chair, said: “Our collaboration with the TNFD is a clear signal to the market that we are committed to reducing fragmentation in sustainability disclosure while meeting the need for relevant and high-quality information for capital markets.”

Furthermore, the ISSB will consider the relevance of the TNFD recommendations in meeting the needs of global capital markets.

Erkki Liikanen, chair of the IFRS Foundation Trustees, said: “Transparency and accountability are a key means of enabling more stable, resilient and efficient capital markets, and this collaboration will advance the ISSB’s ongoing work to reduce the complexity of the sustainability disclosure landscape, while building on established expertise and practice.”

The ISSB has supported the TNFD since its inception in late 2021 and helped to inform the TNFD recommendations published in September 2023.

Last month, the ISSB said it was considering how best to approach biodiversity reporting.

More recently, the TNFD has been supporting the ISSB’s Biodiversity, Ecosystems and Ecosystem Services (BEES) research project, which started in 2024 and, in February 2025, presented to ISSB members an overview of its work to date.

Under the MoU, ISSB and TNFD will share research, knowledge and technical expertise to inform both the ISSB’s BEES initiative and nature-related aspects of its Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards enhancement work.

Last year, the ISSB said it planned to consult on SASB amendments this year, the plans of which some now fear could create some internal confusion following an ISSB meeting on the topic last month.

Razan Al-Mubarak, co-chair of the TNFD, president of the IUCN and former COP28 champion, said: “Nature is essential to our economies and our future. Our collaboration with the ISSB is a major step toward making nature visible in businesses reporting and how capital is allocated.

“Climate-related standards have already moved markets, and we are pleased to continue to support ISSB efforts that bring the rest of nature into global reporting practice. Stronger standards mean stronger businesses, and a healthier, more resilient planet for all of us.”

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